On the subject of lead, mentalfloss recently had an interesting article on
Clair Patterson (the most important scientist you've probably never heard of) who was the first to realise how much lead was in the environment in the mid 20th Century and also had to develop a lot of important lab techniques to prove it.
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http://ed.ted.com/lessons/history-s-deadliest-colors-j-v-maranto When radium was first discovered, its luminous green color inspired people to add it into beauty products and jewelry. It wasn’t until much later that we realized that radium’s harmful effects outweighed its visual benefits. Unfortunately, radium isn’t the only pigment that historically seemed harmless or useful but turned out to be deadly. J. V. Maranto details history’s deadliest colors.
Lesson by J. V. Maranto, animation by Juan M. Urbina.
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